Canter Family’s Carol’s Research Challenge Raises $134,646 to Fuel Innovative Tauopathy Research

NEW YORK, August 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Canter Family is proud to announce that they have raised $134,646 through their 2023 event, Carol’s Research Challenge, to fund cutting-edge projects from the 2023 Tauopathy Challenge Workshop that hope to accelerate our understanding of primary tauopathies. This event is the Canter Family’s second fundraising endeavor and their most successful to date, honoring the late Carol Canter, who was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). After their inaugural event in 2022, Carol’s Research Challenge marked a shifting focus to research as an antidote to the problems faced by so many families, educating the CurePSP community while also funding new science initiatives. They hope that coupling awareness with insights into research will generate excitement and increased funding to progress these projects exponentially. Stephen E. Canter, speaking on behalf of the Canter Family, is excited to fund forward-thinking studies that now have the opportunity to be realized.

“We are thrilled that funds raised by Carol’s Research Challenge will directly support the innovative projects of Drs. Kathryn Bowles, Yongku Cho and co-PI Jesse Rinehart, Rik van der Kant and Patrik Verstreken from the Tauopathy Challenge Workshop,” said Stephen Canter. “We are hopeful their novel research initiatives will contribute to a better understanding of how PSP develops and progresses in the brain, opening new avenues for effective therapies and treatment.”

The inaugural edition of the Tauopathy Challenge Workshop, hosted by the Rainwater Charitable Foundation (RCF) in partnership with CurePSP and the Aging Mind Foundation, took place in Chicago in October 2023, bringing together a brilliant cohort of researchers with diverse specialties and backgrounds in pursuit of answers to these rare diseases. They sought to tackle the perplexing challenges surrounding primary tauopathies, with a particular focus on PSP and frontotemporal dementias (FTDs). Invited participants received a grant of $10,000, and the two-day workshop offered a space for researchers to share innovative ideas that could turn into practical, impactful research projects that may ultimately lead to breakthroughs in the field. Some of the most promising projects received grants extending up to $500,000, offering new approaches to understanding tau buildup and pathways to biomarkers and therapies for patients.

Click here to read more about the Tauopathy Challenge Workshop.  

About The Rainwater Charitable Foundation's Medical Research

The Rainwater Charitable Foundation (RCF) was created in the early 1990s by renowned private equity investor and philanthropist Richard E. Rainwater. When Richard was diagnosed with a rare neurodegenerative disease and primary tauopathy called Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), the RCF expanded its mission to accelerate the development of new diagnostics and treatments for tau-related neurodegenerative disorders. The RCF Medical Research Team supports this focus by managing the Tau Consortium, the Rainwater Prize Program and the Tauopathy Challenge Workshop. With over $140 million invested in medical research to date, the RCF has helped to advance eight treatments into human trials. Currently the RCF supports a range of programs, including a focus on family economic security, medical research and other worthy causes. For more information, please visit rainwatercharitablefoundation.org.

About Aging Mind Foundation

Since 2013, the Aging Mind Foundation (AMF) has been dedicated to funding medical research aimed at uncovering the causes of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Founded by Laree Hulshoff and Bill Booziotis, who were motivated by personal experiences with friends suffering from Alzheimer's, AMF strives to alleviate the impact of this devastating disease on individuals and their families. By raising funds to provide substantial grants to medical scientists, AMF supports groundbreaking research into Alzheimer's and dementia. The Aging Mind Foundation operates as a component fund of The Dallas Foundation, a 501(c)(3) publicly supported charity. For more information, please call 214.218.2050 or visit AgingMindFoundation.org.

Contact:

Kristophe Diaz, PhD

Executive Director and Chief Science Officer

646-725-1453

diaz@curepsp.org